Company president Jean Pierre Taillon praised the first responders for their actions that saved the life of a fourth guard, Matthew Schuman – who has made incredible progress in his recovery.

“Five weeks after the fact, he was walking, he was talking, he was able to recognize some of us,” Branch Manager Rob Murray said.

One of the officers present Thursday was the first on the scene – Staff Sgt. Erik Johnson described what happened when he arrived.

“There was somebody moaning behind the door of the ATM Canada Trust, and there was blood coming from under the door,” Staff Sgt. Johnson said. “So at that point, I grabbed my battering ram from out of my police car to see if we could rescue whoever was behind the door there.”

“We appreciate the recognition of course, but we are there to do a job, but I think it brought us in EMS closer together as a team,” Paramedic James Shaw said.

“I’ve never seen a community come together so strongly, and I fell that this is part of our home,” Taillon said.

At the end of the ceremony, the police and EMS workers were given armbands bearing the names of the three guards killed in the incident.

The armbands are available to the public for $2, with the proceeds going to the victim’s families.

Photos

More than six months have passed since four G4S armoured car employees were shot, and three died, in an armed robbery, the company recognized the first emergency crews on the scene.

A police cruiser guards a crime scene after an attempted armed robbery left three people dead near the HUB Mall area on the campus of the University of Alberta in Edmonton on Friday, June 15, 2012. (Ian Jackson / THE CANADIAN PRESS)